Ferrets from Stanley, County Durham, to wed in grand ceremony

SHE will be dressed in traditional white silk diamante wedding gown while he will be in grey tux and tails.

Both outfits - hers shipped from Tasmania, his from oh-so chic France - will be complimented by a liberal use of ferret fur.

For Lady Truffle and sweetheart Crusher Hoblet are finally tying the knot on Christmas Eve after living 'over the brush' in their cage for the last three years.

The inseperable ferrets will wed in the Chapel of the Pit Village at Beamish Museum, County Durham.

Best man ferret is Monsta Ferret, from Watford, while ferret ushers are Dexter from Redcar and Nelson. Bridesmaids will be Gracie, Garlic and Claudia.

Lady Truffle will be picked up by white Rolls Royce from her home Stanley and taken to the ceremony at nearby Beamish at about 1.20pm, on Monday December 24.

More than 40 humans will attend along with 75 ferret guests and there will be a video link to almost 200 people in the USA and Australia.

Pets at Home in Washington are hosting the reception at 2.30pm.

Karen Webb, who runs the North Pennine Ferret Welfare, along with partner Barrie Bellwood said: “It is a fun event to get some publicity for the work that we do raising the profile of ferrets and providing a rescue home for them.”

Crusher, who has 1,689 friends on his Facebook page, has a special place in the hearts of his owners.

Ms Webb said: “It will be an emotional day for us. My partner’s granddaughter Eden Shaw gave it to him as a father’s day present in 2007.

“She chose his name and where he was going to live.

“Sadly, she died of cancer a year later – aged just 11 years old.”

Ms Webb said Lady Truffle came to the refuge after being terrorised by a dog.

She said: “The two have been totally inseparable since. If we take one out, the other will not eat or drink anything.”

Ms Webb said: “While this is a bit of fun we are trying to get a serious message across – that ferrets are not nasty animals.

“They make excellent pets and you can train them to live indoors and you can take them for walks like dogs.

“We try to educate people how to feed them and take care of them.”

Lady Truffle will be taken down the aisle by Jason Atherton, the head vet at Stanley’s Eden Hill Veterinary Surgey, while the reception party will be held at Pets at Home in Washington.